District School
by BaconDeath
Summary: Finnick is the disgraced former football star of Capitol Academy, forced to join the District school to finish his education. When he meets Katniss Everdeen, a fiery young woman, will he forget his past? AU
1. Chapter 1

**My second ever FanFic! R and R, let me know if you want to Beta, but please note I also have my LoZ FanFic so I may be juggling them quite a bit.**

As the bell rang for homeroom, Katniss scanned the hallway for her friend Gale. He was supposed to have walked to school with her and her sister Prim, but he hadn't shown up. He was in the year above from her, in his senior year, but they were inseparable outside of class. Katniss couldn't see Gale and in the end gave up and went to homeroom, as the late bell went. Her friend Madge waved her over to where they usually sat.

"So, what's new?" Madge asked nonchalantly.

"Nothing, you saw, like yesterday remember?" Katniss reminded her. Madge rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, but yesterday didn't have a new guy joining our school." Madge squealed. This time Katniss rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, great. What are they serving in the cafeteria?"

"No, listen. Apparently, he was an awesome football player and he is moving here because he hurt his back in a game, so he lost his scholarship at CA." Katniss glanced up Capitol Academy was the school to go to. If you got a scholarship you had to be amazing. But if you messed up, you were out. It must have been tough for this guy.

"What does this have to do with us?"

"He's in our homeroom. And ohmygosh he is lush!" Madge was practically drooling and Katniss reluctantly turned around to see what was so special about him. And then her jaw dropped. An Adonis stood in the doorway. He had bronze hair, a deep tan and two incredible green eyes. He was very tall, obviously over six foot, but not in a lanky way. He was muscular and his football background had given him a nice athletic figure.

"But," Katniss reasoned with herself, "He's probably never going to say a word to you, and if he does, he'll just be another one of those handsome, sporty douche bags who couldn't string a sentence together." But she was proven wrong when he strolled over to the empty desk next to her.

"Is this seat taken?" He said his voice just as manly and hot as his figure.

"Not if you sit there." Katniss said, keeping her cool as he slipped into the chair.

"Finnick Odair." He stuck his hand out at her and it took her a few moments to realise she was supposed to shake it. She shook it, and told him her name. "Katniss Everdeen. What a beautiful name for such a pretty person." He laughed as she scowled at him. "You should be called the Girl on Fire because after that look, I think I'm going to burst into flames! Anyway, I am pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Likewise." Katniss glanced at Madge who was practically drooling onto her designer clothes.

"And that's Madge. At least she will be when she wakes up out of the coma that you inadvertently put her in."

"That's okay; I have that affect on people." He laughed as Madge appeared to shake herself awake.

"Hi, I'm Madge Undersee."

"Finnick Odair. Pleased to meet you Madge."

"The pleasures all mine." Katniss rolled her eyes as Madge started really obviously flirting with Finnick. She glanced at him and saw he was holding back a smirk.

"So, Finnick, why'd you come to the crummy old District school?" Madge asked, despite already knowing the answer. Katniss saw his easy going smile fall for just a second, like he was wearing a mask and then flicker on again.

"I was playing a game of football and then this guy just flat out knocked me over. It put my back out for a few weeks, but I missed the State Championship so Principal Snow kicked me out. But I don't care. Everything was easy. People pay me to help them with their homework." Madge gaped.

"Wow, you must be loaded!"

"Oh, I haven't dealt in anything as common as money for years."

"Then how do they pay you for the pleasure of your company?" Katniss was intrigued. Was he some kind of pimp?  
"With secrets. ... What about you, girl on fire? Do you have any secrets worth my time" He put on a seductive face and Katniss smirked.

"Nope, I'm an open book. People know my secrets before I do."

"Well then, I must try to find them out. Madge, any secrets I should know before she kills me with her fiery gaze?" Madge looked please he was speaking to her and responded enthusiastically.

"Well, she hates her sister's cat, the cat's called Buttercup and her sister's Prim, and she pretends she hates school but secretly she's a huge nerd. Oh, and she sleeps with a teddy. That she calls Mr Whiskers." Madge stuck her tongue out at Katniss while Finnick roared with laughter.

"Mr Whiskers? Seriously? And I thought you were a sensible, mature person." He collapsed into laughter again and Madge was giggling like crazy. They were starting to attract attention from the other people in their homeroom.

"Right, Madge, you should know better. Finnick I've known you barely five minutes and you know more about me than Madge did for five years after we first met."

"Oh, I'm special!" He had calmed down a bit, but he was still smirking at her.

"No, you really aren't. You're just lucky Madge is here, to blurt out _my private_ business."  
"I don't think that first one counts as private."

"No, but the other two are. That's why I am in the top group for everything." Katniss allowed herself to boast. She had worked hard for those grades and she wanted to show it. Sadly, it seemed to spike Finnick's interest even more.

"Really? So am I! I guess we'll have classes together."

"Oh crap." He cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Is that a good oh crap or a bad oh crap? Because I really hope it's a good one."

"It's a bad oh crap."

"Oh crap!" he exclaimed and Katniss smirked at him.

"See, if you're doing this to get into my pants, it isn't going to work. Gale would kill you before you even touched me."

"Who's Gale?"

"My best friend. He's like a brother to me. This is just as well as he stops unwanted attention."

"Well then, I'll make sure to tell the unwanted people to watch out."

"When Glimmer gets her hands on you, you will want someone like Gale as well."

"Who's Glimmer?"

"The school whore. She has slept with practically every guy in school. I can count on one hand the guys that she hasn't slept with." Madge cut in, practically desperate to join in the conversation.

"And who might they be?" Finnick asked, smiling lazily at her.

"Well, you, Peeta Mellark, Gale, Thresh and Martin."

"Who are they?"

"You've heard of Gale already so we can skip him, Martin is well, mentally disabled, everyone treats him as a sort of pet, Thresh is this big brute of a guy even Glimmer is scared of him, and Peeta is the guy Katniss has been ogling at since seventh grade. Glimmer has turned on the charm with him but he has this crush on Katniss. They know that it is a mutual attraction but Katniss wants a tough guy, that will let her fight her own battles and Peeta wants to coddle her. So now they don't date other people but then kind of wait for the other one to make a move." Madge explained and Finnick smirked again.

"It seems I have some competition."

"Excuse me?" Katniss was shocked. Had he been flirting with her? Did he think she had been flirting with him?

"You heard me; I have competition for the fair maidens' hand. I must work hard to gain your favour!" He said dramatically and Katniss struggled to think of a response. Luckily the bell rang, signalling the end of homeroom. She grabbed her bag and bolted out of the room, running down the corridor towards her first class. She found her class and slipped into a chair in the middle row. Gradually the room filled up and Finnick ambled in with Madge trotting after him, like a love struck puppy. He sat in the seat to the left of her and strangely Madge didn't sit on her other side. She instead sat on the left of him. However that didn't last because Glimmer and her cronies entered, saw Finnick and actually shoved Madge out of the seat. Finnick went to say something, his brow furrowed in anger, but Glimmer beat him to it.

"Hi, I'm Glimmer. You don't want to sit next to her she's a prude. But, I'm like totally available and way more popular." She said, as she ran a hand over Finnick's chest. He pushed it away.

"Thanks, but no thanks. Madge and Katniss are my friends." Glimmers pretty little face crinkled in disgust.

"Those freaks? Why sit with them? I can show you a good time. Better than those losers ever could."

"Well, actually-"Finnick started to say but Katniss cut in.

"Actually, Finnick used to go to CA, but because he can't play football anymore he came here. He's been assigned as my tutor though because my grades are slipping in Chemistry."

"Fine. But at least I don't have to be stupid to sleep with guys." Glimmer sneered before stalking off to sit in the back row. Madge sat back down in her chair as Finnick laughed again.

"Chemistry? What about biology? Or are you saving that for later?"

"Shut up." Katniss mumbled as the late bell rang and the teacher walked in.

"I want to talk to you at break, all right?"

"Fine, douche." Katniss grumbled as the last person in the class arrived. It was Peeta.

"Sorry I'm late." He said, breathless from running to be on time.

"That's okay, there's an empty seat next to Everdeen. Be on time next time." The teacher pointed to the chair to the right of Katniss.

"Oh shit." She mumbled as Peeta sat down.


	2. Chapter 2

In the end it wasn't too much of a problem with having the two guys on either side of her. Peeta was his usual aloof self, and Finnick made jokes all lesson. To be honest, she didn't really know what lesson she was in, with the two guys sat next to her. Madge didn't help her either. She was either ogling at Finnick or attempting to flirt with him. Luckily, the teacher was a huge pushover so the lessons were just a formality. The teacher just gave them the reading list and let them talk and catch up with all the gossip. She copied out the list into her notebook and started to toy with Peeta.

"So, Peeta. How's your life?"

"Uh, fine. Yours?" He spluttered, as he always did whenever she initiated conversation, as if he was surprised she was talking to him.

"Great. Hey, have you met the new guy yet?"

"No, but I recognised him as I walked in." Hearing this, Finnick launched himself out of his chair and held his hand out to Peeta.

"Finnick Odair, who the heck are you?" He grinned and Katniss saw Peeta flinch as he shook the ex football players hand.

"Peeta Mellark. I saw you play in the exhibition match last year." Again Finnick's mask broke for just a second and Katniss caught a glimpse of the pain on his face, before his smile flashed again.

"Ah, so you saw my great downfall."

"Actually I didn't. I had to rush back to my parents store to close up, so I missed it by about ten minutes."

"Ah, you missed such a great show. This blond dude slammed into me and when I went down, he "tripped" over me and kneed me in the stomach. Then when he was getting up, I rolled over to push myself up and he "slipped" and whacked my back, knocking one of my vertebrae out of place. And that ended my sporting career and my scholarship!" He said dramatically, throwing himself back into his chair as he finished his story.

"Well, that explains why you're here. Do you know who the guy who knocked you down was?" Peeta asked.

"Yeah, it's a roman name I think." Finnick Said, leaning back in his chair, jiggling his leg. Katniss wondered briefly if he had ADHD or was just hyperactive. He couldn't seem to keep still.

"Cato. He's was the biggest jerk in this school."

"Ah. I must meet him someday. What grade is he in?"

"I said was. He graduated last year." Katniss corrected him.

"Ah. What a shame. I so hoped to meet him." Finnick exclaimed and the conversation suddenly became light and jokey. By the time the lesson was halfway through, Katniss knew more about Finnick than she did about Madge. She learnt that he had grown up near the only beach in town, but when he was fourteen he had won his scholarship to CA.

"But that means you went to elementary and junior school with us. How come we just don't know you?"

"Well, I was kind of a nerd and I kind of kept to myself. Also, this wonderful face used to be riddled with acne and braces. So people didn't used to notice me much." Finnick confided. Katniss snorted.

"Seriously? Do you have any pictures? I have to see them." She started to laugh and soon found she couldn't stop. Finnick pouted.

"It's not funny. Besides, my face has recovered since then. I am offended that you find that funny." He huffed and Katniss laughed harder. Eventually she stopped and one look at Finnick's face made her burst into another fit of giggles.

"Done yet?" He asked as she wiped tears of mirth from her eyes.

"Yeah, I think so?"

"Think so? Katniss, if people see you laughing at me and I haven't said anything remotely funny, my reputation will never surface and people will think you are crazy."

"Yeah, they don't think I'm crazy now." Katniss said sarcastically.

"Why would they think that?"

"Poor girl from the Seam, best friends are the Mayors daughter and a guy who could possibly be my cousin. And that is just the start."

"Wait, Madge is the Mayors daughter? Holy Crap! I've been hitting on the wrong woman!" Finnick joked and Katniss slapped him on the arm as Madge sat up a little straighter.

"Don't get your hopes up. Even with your pretty face and modest personality the Mayor has a shotgun. And he keeps it by his bedside. I know. I made the mistake of getting up for water during a sleepover." Katniss said her face serious.

"Seriously? Maybe I am hitting on the right girl?" This made Madge's back slump down again as she realised her chances with Finnick were practically nonexistent. For the time being, of course.

"Just because you're hitting on me, doesn't mean I'll go out with you, you know."

"I know. This is what makes it so fun. Eventually you'll crack and succumb to my charm!" He did an evil laugh and Peeta cleared his throat.

"Don't even try. She's mine." He said possessively. Immediately Katniss jerked away from him.

"I am not yours. I am a person and you cannot own me. Unless it's a baking competition, you'll own me then. But not as a possession. I do not wear a property of Peeta Mellark necklace. Nor will I ever. Literally or figuratively. Understood?" She looked and felt so pissed off, Peeta shrunk back. Finnick and Madge, sat behind Katniss, were muffling their laughter and Finnick coughed "Burn" loudly enough so that everyone nearby turned to look.

"Understood." Peeta mumbled and Katniss grinned.

"Good. Because otherwise Gale would get to try that William Tell thing that he's wanted to do for years." Peeta gulped.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ \/\/\/

By lunchtime it seemed everyone had heard of Finnick. At least the female population had. Glimmer and her cronies continued to thrust their chests out at Finnick but Katniss and Madge were masters at fending them off. It involved a lot of gestures and earned them each a detention for bad language and bad attitudes towards other students. They had shrugged it off. They were used to it. They walked to the cafeteria, Finnick in tow and joined the lunch queue.

After buying the possibly not beef, beef burgers that were the special of the day, they sat down at their usual table with Peeta, Gale and Johanna. Johanna was one of those people who looked like an easy target for Glimmer and co but in reality, she was really tough. On the first day of elementary school, Glimmer had pushed her over in the sandpit and she just stood up, calm as a sleeping puppy, and punched Glimmer in the face. She had then bitten Glimmers wrist and was later sentenced to twenty time outs. But she had made a point. She was not to be messed with. At first Katniss was kind of scared of her, but then realised it was because she was so like Katniss herself. So she went up to her one day and took her pencil case. After a small fight they became best friends in their first detention together.

"Sup Catnip. Who's he?" Gale asked.

"Finnick. The new guy." Katniss sat down in her usual seat and found herself once again wedged in between Finnick and Peeta.

"He's hot. I claim dibs." Johanna said, completely ignoring Finnick himself

"I am afraid I am already taken. You see it is now my purpose in life to woo Katniss." Finnick took a bite of his burger as Gale started growling, actually growling, like a dog.

"Down boy, it's not like I'm going to jump into bed with him the first chance I get." Katniss punched her straw through the foil of her chocolate milk

"I would." Johanna interjected and everyone rolled their eyes. It was not unheard of for Johanna to lower the tone of the conversation.

"Jesus, Jo, not while we're eating." Peeta exclaimed, pushing his Panini away. "Anyway, I hear Principal Coin has an announcement. We all have to go to an assembly, after this." A groan rippled around the table with all but Finnick grumbling.

"What's so bad about an assembly?"

"Assemblies here are really boring. When Coach Haymitch is leading it, he just stumbles around a bit and drinks. When Coin is running it though... It gets really boring. They are all about how we are all equal and how bullying isn't tolerated. And of course it's always me that's used as an example." Katniss explained, as Johanna took her cookie. "Leave it missy!"

"What are you, my grandpa? Anyway, these assemblies are the worst. Coin makes it pretty obvious she hates kids." The group murmured their agreement.

"Oh, I almost forgot. What district are you in?" Katniss asked.

"District?"

"District school? Didn't they tell you about the district system?" One look at Finnick's face told her they hadn't. "They sort everyone into districts, like the houses at Hogwarts. Basically, it's where you sit in assemblies, dances, where your locker is, and things like that. Me, Gale, Peeta and Madge are 12. Jo is 7." Finnick looked confused for a moment and then it cleared.

"So that's why Coin kept saying four. So is there like a logo for the districts, to tell me where to go?" everyone tittered.

"Dude, have you not seen the banners everywhere. They represent the industry we are meant to do when we leave here. 12 are coal, 7 is lumber. 4 are fishing." Gale explained, before shoving a cookie in his mouth.

"So wait, you're telling me that when I leave here, I have to be a fisherman? What if I just leave town? What if I want to be a doctor?" Finnick protested

"You can leave, but Coin and Snow know how to blackmail you. They might not run the town, but they own most of it. There is no way you won't end up in the industry. Unless you go to CA or you have a family business. Like me. I am going to run the bakery." Peeta said, puffing up his chest with pride.

"Well, it is a good thing I grew up by the sea because otherwise I would be screwed." Finnick grumbled as the others resumed eating.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ \/\/\/

When the bell rang, signalling the end of lunch they joined the throng of people crowding into the auditorium. They filed in and Katniss pointed Finnick towards the rows designated for 4. He smiled gratefully and sat down. Katniss and co went to sit down in their respected rows, Johanna going to sit with 7 and the boys wedging themselves in next to Katniss. There was a lot of noise, but it all petered out when Coin stood in the centre of the stage.

"Greetings, students. This assembly is an important one. You have all heard of Capitol Academy, I'm sure. Due to a student unexpectedly leaving, there is one scholarship open to one of you. But, Principal Snow and I have decided that we will make it more,_ exciting _for you. We will be running a competition called, The Hunger Games. You may enter on your own, or in a group of no more than seven. You will be showing of your talents, and those who win, will also be exempt from the industry we have been grooming you for. That is all." Coin walked off the stage and immediately all hell broke loose.

People were shouting for their friends to join their group, wondering what they were going to do. Finnick had found himself sat next to girl with brown hair.

"Hi, I'm Annie, Annie Cresta." She said holding her hand out.

"Finnick Odair. That scholarship, it used to be mine." Her eyes widened.

"Seriously, you mean, you were the guy who got knocked down? That is harsh, to just offer it up right in front of you!" She said, genuinely sorry for him.

"It's not all bad. I may be able to get it back."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, some people in my homeroom and their buddies, they might just be my ticket out of here. Do you want to help?"

"Sure. Where are they?"

"Uh, most of them are in 12."

"Let's go then, pretty boy." Annie stood up and pulled Finnick up as well, pulling him over to 12. There was only one thought going through his head at that point in time.

"What about Katniss? Katniss or Annie? Katniss or Annie?"


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Just so you know, I have no idea what so ever what happened in this chapter. I don't even know where this story leads. I apologise for the small wait, but I have been working on a play, for fun, and it is effectively my baby at the moment. Anyway, enjoy!**

They made their way over to the group and sat down on some vacant seats.

"Hey guys, this is Annie." Finnick introduced her and the gang exchanged a quick look before smiling and greeting her.

"Hey, I'm Katniss. Do you want to try and enter with us?"

"Depends on what we do. I know what I'm gonna do."

"Well, we were thinking of busting out our mad skills." Peeta said, grinning.

"What skills? Baking? Lifting bags of flour? I don't think that is worthy of CA, do you?" Gale said, smacking Peeta's arm.

"What are you good at Annie?" Katniss said, ignoring the now bickering boys beside her.

"I'm quite good at fishing." She said modestly, looking down at her shoes.

"Really? So am I!" Finnick said his bouncy smile bigger than ever.

"Cool. But that isn't going to get a place in CA. If anything, that will definitely send you to the industry." Katniss pointed out and Annie's face flickered for a moment, a look of resentment that was just missed by everyone as they looked at Katniss. "Me and Gale are good with bows and traps, so we could do something with that, teach you guys some and work with that." Katniss suggested and everyone murmured their agreement, apart from Annie, who jumped up.

"Well, excuse me, but won't that just mean they'll arrest you? It's no secret you hunt illegally off of private property, but if you go flaunting your abilities in front of the powers that be you'll just get sent straight to prison and probably take the rest of us with you." Annie spat with venom. "Come on Finnick, let's go." She grabbed his arm and pulled, but he stayed where he was.

"Two things. One, no I will not go, they are hopefully my friends, and two, what the hell? There is no way they would break the law and then accidently get arrested. They are smarter than you, obviously." Finnick crossed his arms and Annie's nostrils flared. She huffed and then stormed off, flinging her head back as she did so. He turned back to the others. "What the hell was that about?"

"That, my dear boy was Antagonistic Annie. Nearly everything you say, if she doesn't like it she will go crazy. Also, we couldn't think of a word for crazy that began with A." Peeta explained as the others watched Annie stalk out of the auditorium.

"What about Ape Annie?" Finnick suggested.

"We did think of that but we aren't mean enough to call her a hairy jungle animal. Even if they are smarter than her." Katniss laughed and Finnick found himself joining in.

"Well, what are we going to do, serious time now." Johanna said and the gang started thinking.

"I'm quite good at painting; I can submit a few of my paintings." Peeta said. Immediately the others booed him.

"I thought you didn't need to go to that school with your wonderful family bakery to fall back on." Johanna sneered. They started arguing about how Peeta didn't need to do anything but the others need an escape from the fate that would ensnare them after graduation.

"Anyway," Katniss said, again rolling her eyes, "Is there anything you are particularly good at? Something that will entertain people, like drama, writing, anything like that?"

"I can use a spear pretty well. My mother tells me it looks like an art." Finnick said honestly and Katniss pondered it for a moment.

"Can you fight with one? Because if you can, we can put together a kind of dance-y sequence with various weapons and make it into a variety act thing."

"But how would that be of any use at the school. You guys are forgetting I went to that school. I know what makes it tick." Finnick said smugly. "Everything's of a high standard so you need to be able to put on a show. Every Friday is devoted to your talents. And each semester they test you to make sure you're still worthy of attending. So all you have to do is find something entertaining." The group stared at him, processing the information.

"So basically, sports are a good thing to try?" Gale asked, an idea forming in his head.

"Yeah, basically, or painting or something that people find entertaining. You really have to think about what you're good at. I got in because of a fluke. I was playing football with some buddies in the park and then this guy with a weird beard comes up and says "Hey want to go to CA? You're really good kid." And that was that. I called my mom, she had a word with him, he gave her a leaflet, and then the next week I was at CA." Finnick sounded bitter and his mask slipped, again only briefly, but enough for Katniss to notice. To try and turn the topic off obviously painful memories she said;

"Okay, I say we go to The Hob after school to talk this over some more, what do you say?" Everyone agreed and they spent the next few minutes brainstorming, before heading off to their next class.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ /\/\/\

After school they all piled into Gale's car, fondly referred to as "Thumper", due to its regularly failing engine, they drove to The Hob, with everyone phoning or texting their parents, letting them know what's going on.

"Oh, shit. Madge, I think we just forgot our detention!" Katniss slapped her forehead. Madge giggled.

"I told Coach Haymitch that we had a family emergency. He grunted what I think was his version of a sarcastic "oh, really?" but we should be fine, I slipped him a coupon for free liquor at Greasy Sae's." Madge leaned in closer to Finnick and he subtly slipped away, to the edge of his seat. Katniss noticed and covered her laughter with a coughing fit.

"You all right back there?" Gale asked from the driver's seat.

"Yeah fine, just a cough." Katniss spluttered.

"Well that's good because we are here." They all piled out of the car and headed into The Hob. They sat down in their regular booth. Madge was designated to get the drinks and she came back a minute later, closely followed by their usual waiter, Cinna.

"Hey guys, I see you brought a friend. I'm Cinna and I am nearly always here when these guys show up." He shook Finnick's hand and then passed out the drinks. "Hot chocolate for Katniss, Peeta and Finnick, Green tea for Madge and coke floats for Johanna and Gale, with of course, extra cream. Enjoy." He went back to the counter to serve the other high school students waiting for their orders to be taken.

"So, have you never been here before? Cinna practically works here." Gale asked Finnick, who was blowing on his drink.

"I have occasionally, but it's too popular with the bullies for me to enjoy it fully." Finnick explained before taking a sip of his drink and burning his tongue. "Ah, hot!"

"I know you are." Johanna said, once again making the conversation awkward.

"I didn't know there were bullies at Ca." Peeta said, intrigued by that little fact.

"Well, there are. You think you got it bad here with people thinking they are better than everyone else? At CA everyone is better than everyone else at something. But some people think they are a lot better than others. And they are usually bigger. You think I'm a pretty damn awesome looking dude? The dudes there are twice as hot. Even I notice that. And I'm straight game all the way baby." He said and the group laughed at the last bit because he said it so seriously it seemed funny.

"Anyway, we hang out here probably too much, we might have seen them. Who are they?" Finnick was about to answer, but saw a group of people enter and immediately his jaw clenched.

"Them." Was all he said before he ducked underneath the table and crawled to the nearby bathroom. He slipped inside before they noticed him. The gang was left looking very puzzled as the door swung shut after him, and Gale volunteered to go find out what was wrong. That was probably their mistake. The group of people who had caused Finnick to crawl away noticed them and walked up to them. One of them, a tall skinny boy with brown hair and green eyes, slid into Finnick's vacated seat.

"Hey gorgeous, I'm Marvel. How about a pizza and a round in the alley outside?" He leered, leaning into Katniss, breathing all over her face. Calmly as she could, she slapped him round the face as hard as she could.

"My boyfriend is in the bathroom right now. I suggest you leave before he gets back." He rubbed his cheek, soothing where she had slapped him.

"Aw, come on gorgeous! Don't you like pizza?" His friends laughed and Katniss sighed. She had seen them do this same routine on almost every other girl that had walked in here. She knew exactly what line was coming next. "I could give you a better time than he ever could. Don't you want to see something swell?" His friends laughed even harder and Katniss saw Finnick leave the bathroom. They hadn't seen him yet. She quickly formed a plan...

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ \/\/\/

As soon as Finnick saw Marvel and co enter he knew there would be trouble. He ducked under the table and crawled into the men's room. He got as soon as he entered because, let's be honest, the floor was covered in pee. He took some deep breaths and looked at himself in the mirror. He heard someone come in behind him and he turned around.

"Dude, what the hell?" Gale asked, his brow crinkled in confusion. "You saw those dudes and you bailed. Why?" Finnick sighed, buying himself some time to figure out how he was going to say this.

"They used to bully me. I was their favourite victim. And because I was good at football, a lot better than them, I might add, they liked to take their anger out on me. You know that game last year?" Gale nodded and Finnick continued. "Well, I was planning on switching my course anyway. I was going to try my hand at writing; I even had a great idea for a story. That game was gonna be my last and then I was going to go to Principal Snow and switch courses. But Marvel it turns out was buddies with Cato. It would be suspicious if Marvel knocked me down, we spent a lot of time together after all, I "stuck up for him in several fights" apparently. But Cato knocked me down as a favour and I got kicked out of CA. I only got released from hospital two days ago." Gale winced.

"Ouch. Two months in hospital." Gale placed a hand on Finnick's shoulder. "But there was something else I wanted to talk to you about."

"What's that?"

"Katniss. I have been crazy for her for years; she doesn't bat an eyelid because she is oblivious to it. You show up and you know more about her in one day then I did in a month. She really likes you but she doesn't know it yet. I'll let you go out with her but if you mess with her or do something she doesn't want to do, I will break you. Understood?"

"Yep. But how do you know she likes me? If she doesn't know, how could she have told you? I've been with her all day"

"She laughs at you or at things you say. It took me nearly a year to get her to smile."

"She is a very secretive girl." Finnick mused. "But I really appreciate your "blessing". It means a lot."

"Thanks. Anyway let's get back to them and you can sock that Marvel guy one. Sound good?" Finnick froze.

"Oh crap." Gale looked confused at Finnick's profanity. "Marvel kept talking about how he could chat up any woman, even if they had a boyfriend. But he doesn't like being turned down. And Peeta isn't the manliest guy in the world. I think we'd better get ready for a fight." He walked to the door and stepped back into the restaurant, Gale close behind him. He saw Marvel and his buddies sat down in their booth, leering at Katniss and Johanna, Madge evidently being forgotten. He caught Katniss's eye and knew she had a plan.

He walked back to their booth, but signalled for Gale to stay back. He tapped Marvel on the shoulder.

"Hey Marvel! Long time no see, buddy." He said, feigning happiness at seeing his tormentor.

"Hey, Finicky-eater is here! Guys, remember him? He used to have a swirly every day. Do you miss them?" Marvel said, cockily.

"No, I really don't. And I really don't appreciate you slobbering over my girlfriend or her friends."

"Your girlfriend? Man you work fast." Marvel laughed and he went to high five Finnick. Finnick however, stepped out of the way and carried on talking.

"And I definitely don't appreciate your little stunt last year. Thanks to you, I lost my only decent chance at a career. But I did get a kick ass awesome girlfriend. Come on Katniss, let's go." He held out his hand for her to get up and everyone but Marvel slid out of the booth.

"Hey, come on! Me and Katniss were having a pleasant conversation. At least let me finish it!" Marvel's tone was whiny, but was barely hiding his anger.

"A pleasant conversation? It looked to me like you were hitting on her. But if you say so. Katniss, sweetie, do you want to finish your "pleasant conversation"?" Finnick asked, putting his arm around Katniss's shoulders.

"Yes, I do." She said sweetly, stepping towards Marvel. He looked triumphant for a second, until Katniss picked up her barely touched hot chocolate. "Sure, I want to see something swell. Your face from these burns!" She tipped it over his head, the boiling liquid burning his face as the whipped cream perched comically on the top of his head. The others started laughing and Marvel wiped the liquid from his eyes.

"You little..." He lunged towards Katniss, but slipped in the puddle of hot chocolate. Finnick stepped forward and went to help him up. Marvel grabbed his arm gratefully, but Finnick didn't help him up. Instead he grabbed the other hot chocolates, discarded on the table, both of them in one hand and pushed Marvel t the ground.

"This is for everything you've done to me or my friends. Got that?" Marvel nodded glumly and went to get up. Finnick however had other ideas. He kicked Marvel in the stomach, a manic look on his face and poured the two steaming mugs of creamy liquid onto Marvel's head. By then they had gathered a crowd and a collective gasp went through those assembled. Katniss grabbed his arm.

"Come on Finnick, let's go." She gently dragged him away from the steaming mess on the floor that was Marvel.

"Not so good when you're on the receiving end of it, huh Marvel?" He spat onto Marvel's head. It was surprising the way no one had come to stop Finnick, but then again, Marvel had harassed a lot of the customers and he wasn't as well known to the staff as Katniss was. Again, Katniss tugged on his arm, and this time Gale helped.

"Come on buddy. He's out for the count." Gale said softly as he led Finnick out to Thumper. Once he was safely inside Thumper, with the others in as well, Finnick let his mask go. He broke down and cried. Katniss wrapped an arm around his shoulders as he put his head in her lap.

"Shh. There we go. Let it out. Breathe in and out." Katniss soothed him as Thumper thumped on down the road.


	4. Chapter 4

No one knew where Finnick lived, having only just met him, so they drove to Katniss's house as Finnick was in no state to tell them. She helped him get out and led him inside. Johanna, Peeta and Madge listened to Gale as he repeated what Finnick had told.

"Jeez. No wonder he's a wreck. Kicked around then kicked out." Johanna commented and Katniss turned around and glared at her. "What? I was just saying that he must really want to get back in to CA! What's wrong with me saying that?"

"He can hear you. That's what's wrong with that." Katniss retorted. Finnick mumbled his agreement around his sobs and Johanna immediately bit back the comeback she had planned. Katniss knocked on the door and heard her sister shouting something to her mother. Seconds later it opened and revealed her sister Primrose, commonly referred to as Prim. Prim's eyes widened at the handsome, crying young man Katniss was holding up. "Hey little duck, can you get a blanket for him?" Prim nodded then ran off to the linen closet. Katniss dragged Finnick in the direction of the living room, the rest of the gang following. Her mother, Mrs Everdeen was sat on the sofa, mixing up a poultice. As soon as she saw Finnick she jumped up.

"Katniss, you need to stop getting into so many fights." She scolded her daughter. Katniss rolled her eyes.

"You have so much confidence in me mother. Anyway, he isn't hurt so much as drained. He confronted an old bully." Katniss explained. She sat Finnick down in the easy chair and Mrs Everdeen went into the kitchen, and switched the kettle on. Prim came back, her arms laden with pretty much every blanket they owned. "Prim, I said one blanket." Katniss said, trying not to grin.

"I know, but he looks so, so... sad." Prim said in way of explanation. Finnick looked up, eyes brimming with tears.

"Thank you, little duck. You are very kind." He broke down into another round of sobs. Prim immediately dumped all of the blankets on the floor and wrapped her arms around him. Peeta and Gale snorted with laughter as Johanna whispered to Madge.

"That's the Prim pursuance." Madge looked confused at the last word.

"Pursuance?"

"Effect." Katniss said over her shoulder as Prim finished soothing Finnick. She sat down on the arm of the easy chair and the other took that as their cue to sit down on the sofa and various chairs dotted about. Gale found himself next to Johanna on the sofa, while Peeta took the recliner placed next to the sofa. Madge took the foot stool. Mrs Everdeen bustled back into the room, carrying a tray covered in mugs.

"Coffee all round, Katniss how does your friend take his?" She said, raising an eyebrow at the word friend.

"Uh, I don't know. Finnick?" She turned her head to look at him to find he was sitting up, gazing at the wall. "Finnick? How'd you take your coffee?" It seemed to shake him out of his reverie.

"What? Oh, creamer and sugar please." He managed to flash his incredibly sexy smile at Mrs Everdeen and she actually blushed as she set down the sugar pot. Katniss felt really embarrassed.

"Oi, none of that, I thought it was your quest to woo me, not my mother!" She smacked him on his arm, as her mom poured creamer into his coffee.

"Katniss, what have we said about violence? Also, are sugar cubes okay? We ran out of granulated when Katniss tried to bake cookies the other day." She set Finnick's coffee down on the coffee table in front of him. He smiled weakly at her.

"Thanks, cubes are fine."

"Okay, I'll leave you kids alone. I'll be upstairs if you need me Katniss." Mrs Everdeen said, taking the tray with her. They heard her walking up the stairs and then they turned to Prim who was still knelt down by Finnick.

"What? I want to stay!" She whined and Katniss bit back a laugh as Prim tried to do her signature puppy dog look.

"No. We may talk about some inappropriate things in front of you, but this conversation is private." Katniss said firmly before shoving Prim back out into the hall. They heard Prim mutter something that sounded like a swear word, so bad even they didn't use often, and then stomp up the stairs after her Mother. "Well, I don't know where she learnt that." Katniss glanced at the ceiling, which was shaking from Prim's stomping. "I knew I shouldn't have bought her Doc Martens." She said ruefully.

"So Finnick, we know why you went all crazy psycho on him, but now I have a big question, why do you want to go back to CA? Won't he just be twice as bad when he finds out you're back? Especially after this afternoon." Johanna pointed out.

"Well, with my amazing talent for writing I was in advanced classes for most things, I was only in like three classes with him, aside from football. Plus, if I manage to get you guys in, I'll have a wall of muscle to protect me from the scary outside world." Finnick stretched out like a cat, accidently knocking Katniss, who in turn spilled her coffee.

"Hey! Ass!" She spat as the burning liquid soaked through her t-shirt. Madge jumped up to help her, spilling her own coffee in the process.

"Shit!" This cause Johanna, Gale and Peeta to burst out laughing at the two girls jumping up and down in futile attempts to cool down the fluid. Finnick watched awkwardly, trying not to laugh as Katniss knocked over the coffee table, spilling Finnick's drink. This caused more laughter to erupt from the trio on the other side of the room. Finnick was finding it harder and harder to not to laugh and he gave up trying not to. Katniss turned to him, hands on her hips.

"And what exactly do you find so funny?" She said icily and the trio immediately went from laughing to a chorus of sarcastic "Oh's". Finnick couldn't think of anything really good to comeback with so blurted out the age old comeback.

"Your face!" He realised he should have kept silent when Katniss slapped him round the face, as hard as she could.

"Never use crap insults on me. If you get the chance to insult me again, say something original." She spat, and then picked up the discarded mugs. "Prim!" She shouted, and the distinct sound of a teenager hurtling down the stairs was heard. She barrelled into the room.

"Yes, sister dearest?" She said innocently, having obviously been eavesdropping through the floorboards in her room.

"Little duck, fetch me the stain removal stuff, some idiot spilled coffee on the floor." Katniss tried not to look guilty, but Prim knew her to well.

"Not again Katniss. You can't always blame it on Buttercup. We all know he hasn't rubbed it in for years!" Prim kept her face straight but it sent Gale and Johanna into peals of laughter. It took Finnick a few moments to realise what she meant.

"You mean you used to have to clean up cat shit? Gross!" He laughed a huge difference to the Finnick that had stumbled into the room. A look from Katniss however, soon stopped his merriment. She rolled her eyes at him and helped Prim cover the stain with the remover.

"Guys, you know the drill, if my mom asks, blame the cat." There was a chorus of "yes sirs" from the rest of them, Prim included.

"I heard you guys are going for this competition to win a place at CA. Is it true?" Prim was obviously curious about the prospect of her sister attending the most prestigious school in their town.

"Yes and no little duck." Gale pitched in. "We want to enter, but we can't think of anything we can all do together. Any ideas?" He felt he was really reaching out for help, they had thought of a few things during the day, but to ask a thirteen year old? He must be losing it. Prim thought about it for a bit.

"Well, what can you do that would get you in?"

"I make clothes." Madge said, subtly tugging at the hem of her homemade skirt.

"I can bake and wrestle" Peeta offered, earning him a poke in the arm from Johanna, who had leaned over so she was next to him

"It must be a lie; there are no muscles to prove it!" She dramatically pointed a finger at him and he took the challenge.

"I'll prove it!" He tackled her, pushing her against the sofa cushions. However he was soon beaten as she tickled his armpit, causing him to spasm as laughter wracked his body. "I submit, I submit." He said weakly as Johanna finished her assault. Katniss shared a look with Prim.

"And that is what having friends in high school is like. Sure you don't want to drop out?" Prim shook her head.

"Not if it means I get to be the normal one." She grinned and Katniss ruffled her hair.

"Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Any special talents Johanna? Other than reducing Peeta to a giggling heap on the floor?" Finnick clapped his hands together to get their attention.

"I can swing an axe, I can get someone in a choke hold before they can blink and if you wind my arm back my hair grows."

"Thank you Barbie. Gale?"

"You know me catnip; I can lay traps and shoot, heck I would be on the basketball team if I hadn't switched Coach Haymitch's liquor with liquorice in junior year. Butthis is my last year of high school. But if I win the scholarship to CA, I will get a chance at college and Rory will get to go when he's old enough." Katniss frowned.

"Wait, how would Rory get to go? Isn't it a one person/group scholarship?" Gale smirked, he knew what they didn't.

"It is. But I snuck into Coin's office at school, and saw a piece of paper that was lying on her desk and took a chance. It was about the competition. And it has all of the rules and all of the perks in it. So I borrowed it." Gale reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper.

"Hold up. They had a piece of paper with vital information on, just lying around, and you took it? Don't you think they'll notice it's gone?" Katniss was getting pretty agitated, if they guessed who had taken it you could bet they wouldn't win.

"Relax catnip. I photocopied it and put it back on the desk. They'll never know it was gone. And I know Rory will get to go to CA once we win because Coin wrote down all the additional information. It says any and all younger siblings will be accepted into CA, once they are old enough. If they do not show an affinity towards anything, they will be tested in numerous areas until their talent is found. See, Prim will get in. She'll be on the fast track t become a doctor in no time." Gale passed the sheet to Katniss, who scanned it earnestly.

"This is good news little duck, really good news. You'll be a great doctor and everything will be better."

"Can I just ask why this is so important now that Prim can go to CA as well?" Finnick was genuinely confused. Was Prim being bullied? If she was surely Katniss could take them on.

"Because since my dad died we haven't had much money. Most of the stuff in this house was bought with money me and Gale got from hunting, and from my job at The Hob." Katniss explained, not looking up from the paper.

"Well this is all very good and all, but this information is useless unless we win." Johanna had just pointed out the obvious. They still didn't have an idea of what they would do. Luckily Prim had been thinking.

"What can you do Finnick? Because I have an idea, but it all depends on what you say next." Prim looked deadly serious and Finnick was alarmed at how much like Katniss Prim was, despite looking nothing like her.

"Uh, I write. Is that okay for your plan? Because I can also juggle." Finnick could nearly see the gears working in the teens head.

"Write a play. Perform it. Madge do costumes, everyone else acts in it. Make it a fantasy thing, so everyone can show off their talents with lethal weapons and stuff. But if you can manage that, then I think you'll be nearly guaranteed places in CA. Any questions?" Everyone was staring at her gobsmacked. How had little Primrose thought of something none of them had? Peeta raised his hand.

"Well you know how I'm gonna take over the bakery? I know I already have something lined up, and I love how you guys have automatically assumed I'll help you. But I was just wondering..." He trailed off as everyone turned to look at him.

"We would really appreciate it if you helped us out Peeta. And you could go to CA, get some fancy baking degree at the college of your choice and then come back to take over your bakery. You could make a nationwide chain if you wanted to." Katniss said gently. "But it all starts with you going to CA. I would really appreciate your help." Peeta smiled. He was just going to say he would donate some things for props if they needed them.

"I would be delighted to help." Katniss made a very uncharacteristic squeal and launched herself across the room to give him a bear hug.

"Ah! Thank you, thank you, and thank you!" Everyone laughed as Peeta's face started to go red as he ran out of air.

"Katniss, I think your breaking bread boy." Finnick called out and she hopped off of Peeta and jumped onto Finnick's lap. The breath was knocked out of him as she landed on his stomach.

"Oh you're a heavy one." Finnick winced and she slapped him on the arm.

"Don't be rude. Now, write a script."

"Uh, I can't write a script with you on my lap. I'll think off a plot when I get home." Finnick had to admit that he had never tried to write a script before, and he didn't know where to start. Luckily Johanna had an idea.

"How about a fairy tale? They're really popular these days, you know like Once Upon A Time." Everyone thought about it and agreed it was at least a start.

"Great, so I'll think of a base plot tonight and let you know what I come up with tomorrow." Finnick clapped his hands together and tipping Katniss off of his knee. "But first, how many characters will I need? I know you guys will be in it, but do you have any other friends who might be interested?"

"Uh, there are a few people I might ask. I'll make a list on my phone and then we can see if they are suitable candidates for our great venture." Katniss got her phone out and opened the memo function. "All right, we have Gale, Peeta, Finnick, Johanna and Me. Madge do you want a part or just do costumes?" Katniss did not look up from typing all of the names.

"No, I'll do costumes. And you'll need someone to do all of the lights when you perform it, so I can do that as well."

"So we have that sorted. I am thinking, maybe another girl, to even it out. Any ideas on who?" Johanna seemed restless and had taken to lying upside down on the sofa, her feet and legs hanging over the top of the back.

"Whom, you mean and I have two ideas. Clove or Rue." Everyone shuddered at the first person Katniss had suggested.

"Who's Clove?" Everyone kept forgetting Finnick had just joined their school and Peeta explained.

"She was Cato's girlfriend. We used to hang out with her in grade school, but then she went all crazy. She makes antagonistic Annie seem normal. Cato was like a drug to her. As soon as he started paying attention to her, she started acting like him and his friends. They used to play this game where you would throw knives at people and the closer you got without hitting them you get points. She used to practice on us." Peeta winced, remembering the many times he had endured the nerve wracking suspense of a mentally unhinged girl preparing to throw knives at him. Madge saw his discomfort of reliving those moments and took over.

"See, she is really good at throwing stuff, but before she got good, she had to practice. Katniss and Gale took her out hunting once and she must've killed like half of their game that day. They brought in more that day than they usually do in a week. To be honest she scares the shit out of us now. But after that game when Cato, you know, ruined your life and all that, she completely lost it with him. You should have seen it. She waited until the next day, and then in the middle of lunch, she started screaming at him when he laughed at how you fall down. She clawed at his face and they had to call Peacekeepers in to calm her down." Madge chuckled at the memory, as did everyone else, Finnick joining in at the thought of a girl attacking the mighty Cato.

"But why did Katniss suggest her then?" Finnick was genuinely confused. If they found her unbearable why would she help them?

"Because, now that Cato is gone she is a loner. All of her so called friends were actually just Cato's. Now they have either graduated or just ignore her. If she got a scholarship to CA, I am pretty sure she would find friends of her own. Or she might want to be our friend again." Katniss shrugged and everyone found they had to agree with that logic. "And Rue because she is really nice, she just has trouble talking to new people."

"How do you know her then?"

"When you were all off with flu, she was my partner in gym. She's really sweet. Plus she is really smart. She's the same age as little duck here and she is working at a junior level." Everyone was stunned. This girl must be a genius.

"Wow. And are you sure she would want to do this?"

"She really wants to be a botanist. But to be able to do that she has to go to CA. And her family are really poor-." Katniss said as Finnick finished her sentence.

"- So they can't afford to bribe CA to let her in. Well, now is her chance." Finnick grinned and stood up. "Well, I have to head home. I will work under the assumption that Rue will say yes and Clove will say no. See you tomorrow."

"Wait, where do you live? Gale could give you a lift." Katniss offered but Finnick only grinned even more.

"Didn't you know catnip? I just moved into the house down the road." He opened the door and waved before running down the street to his house. He waved again before heading inside, leaving Katniss stood at her front door. Gaping.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry this is so late. To quote Eric Idle, "Life is full of shit, when you look at it." I have just had a hard time seeing where this is going and juggling writing with my homework. In the end, I just kind of forgot about this, and my other story, and when I did write, I maybe possibly edited out a lot of good jokes, quotes from the books and references to the actors. E.g. Katniss's favourite poster guy was Liam Hemsworth, before he met Miley Cyrus. Now it would be Josh Hutcherson, if I had not cut it out.**

Later that night after everyone had left; Katniss sat down for dinner with Prim and their mother.

"So Katniss, who was that boy?" Her mother smirked and Katniss found herself actually enjoying her mother's company.

"Finnick. He's new at school and we're all helping him try and get back into CA." Mrs Everdeen raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"He went to CA?" That really was something for Mrs Everdeen to be surprised about. After all, only the really talented got to attend CA. "What did he do?" Katniss had just shoved a particularly large piece of bread in her mouth and had to wait a few moments while she chewed before answering.

"He was on a football scholarship. But he wanted to switch to writing, so he was all set to ask Principal Snow to let him switch when a personal matter made him unfit for sports and he lost his scholarship." Her mother's brow furrowed as she pieced together the name and the sport.

"You mean he was the young man who was tackled last year? I thought I recognised him! All of the other nurses were talking about the handsome young man who nearly broke his back." The Everdeen contingent winced as they thought about how much pain Finnick must have been in. Katniss shook herself out of the daydream first and resumed eating her bread. It was then she noticed it was fine white bread, not the grainy stuff they made themselves.

"Hey, where do get the bread?"

"Oh, Peeta gave it to me as he was leaving. I thought you knew." Mrs Everdeen shrugged and Katniss's first thought was _"what would Finnick think?"_ Then she thought _"why should I care what he thinks? He isn't my boyfriend, Peeta isn't either, and he just gave it to us as a friendly gesture, that's all." _Then realising she had been lost in her thoughts for over a minute, brought herself back to Earth by pinching her arm.

"Sorry, lost in thought. No I didn't know actually, but it was very nice of him, wasn't it?"

Prim giggled, as if she had read Katniss's mind. "Katniss has _two_ boyfriends now!" Their mother hid a smirk and pretended to scold her youngest daughter.

"Now Prim, we all know that Katniss would scare off any boy that would be even slightly interested in her." Katniss glared at her mother as she was joined by her youngest daughter in what seemed like endless mirth.

"When you are done, I will be in my room." Katniss stood up and walked out of the room, her head held high.

The sound of laughter coming from the dining room faded and Katniss didn't hang around to see why. She went up to her room and found she had a text from Madge.

_Hey, major news to tell you. Ring me back when you get this._

Katniss rolled her eyes, but pressed the call button anyway. Madge answered on the first ring.

"Ohmygosh! You won't believe it. So Gale drove me and Peeta home because Johanna said she had to drop by the hardware store to get a new lumberjack shirt, so she was walking. So Gale dropped Peeta off and he stopped the car just before we got to my house and then he leaned over and said he liked me a lot and now I have a date on Friday! Also please act like a real girl, just for now." Madge squealed and Katniss took a moment to figure out what she said.

"So, hi to you too. And okay." Katniss took a deep breath and then forced herself to do her most girly voice. "Omg! That is like totes amazing! If I can find a date we could like, totally double date!" Madge laughed on the other end of the phone.

"Not that girly. Even I have an overload point and I have a pink bedroom!" This time it was Katniss's time to laugh.

"You regularly hang around with professionally diagnosed psychopaths. How can you even have a pink room? You're not five, nor are you a Disney princess and you and Peeta the two sanest people in our ragtag group of underdogs."

"Underdogs? Seriously? Couldn't you have picked something that didn't make us sound like an inner city dance crew entering a massive competition that will change their lives?"

"Nope." Katniss said, popping the p. "Besides, aside from the dancing, and inner city bit, we are a ragtag group of underdogs, entering a huge competition that will change our lives."

"True, very true. Anyway, going back to the original topic, I have a date on Friday, and you do not. So you need to decide now. Peeta or Finnick. The one you don't pick however will be forced to spend the evening with Johanna." Madge was back into her babbling, quick paced talking mode and Katniss was again finding it hard to keep up.

"Wait, slow down. How did yours and Gales first date turn into a group date, with only one pair on an actual date."

"Because Gale hasn't gone on a real date before. So I want to make his first date nice and relaxing." Katniss frowned. He had gone on dates. Girls at school would come up to him and remind him of their plans for the evening, whilst glaring at Katniss. Sure, most would show up the next day only to be rebuffed by him, but surely it was only lack of chemistry between them that made Gale turn down their offer for a second date.

"Madge, I'm pretty sure Gale has been on dates before."

"Katniss, has he ever said he's going out with someone? Ever?"

"Well, no. But I thought that was because they didn't have a good time and left it at one date."

"Ah, Katniss. Young naive Katniss." Madge realised that Katniss was oblivious to the obvious.

"Hey, I'm older than you!" Katniss cut in.

"Doesn't matter. Anyway, do you know why Gale always asked for them to meet him by the slag heap?"

"Easy to find, easy to remember." Katniss shrugged, before realising Madge couldn't see her.

"Not even close. It's secluded, no one goes there except to, and well you know." Katniss could practically hear the blush that was creeping up Madge's cheeks as she tried to give a brief facts of life explanation.

"Oh. Ohh. Now that makes sense."

"Doesn't it just. Listen Katniss, my phones telling me I'm running out of credit so just remember. Peeta or Finnick. Finnick or Peeta. It's your call. But I swear to god if you have not chosen by Thursday, I will pick for you." Madge meant business and Katniss agreed meekly, knowing there was no point in arguing. "Anyway, see you tomorrow. Bye!" Madge ended the call and Katniss sighed, knowing that if she didn't chose, Madge would and she might regret the choice at the end.

Grumbling, Katniss stood up to close her curtains, only to see something that surprised her. In the house that was now Finnick's home, the front bedroom light was on, and someone was leaning out the window. On closer inspection, the person was none other than Finnick. And he appeared to be holding binoculars, making Katniss feel uncomfortable, considering that she could see into his room, so she could only guess what he could see, due to the binoculars.

Noticing her, Finnick waved and Katniss found herself waving back. He held up a finger and disappeared for a moment before reappearing, holding a large piece of paper. Squinting, Katniss could just make out some numbers written on it. Realising it was his phone number; she quickly added him to his contacts and sent him a text to show she'd got the number.

_Hey, I see you are also a stalker. Didn't CA do a course on that?_

His reply came about a minute later

_They did, but I aced the exam in freshman year. Turns out staring at the senior girl's hockey team while they're changing is not only creepy, but very nearly against the law._

_I don't know if you're joking or not. I seriously hope you are, because otherwise I am never opening my curtains again._

_Well, good thing I stopped after the eighth time getting caught, otherwise, I doubt I would see you're beautiful face in the mornings._

_Aw, thanks. I know I'm beautiful, but its god to hear it every now and then. _Katniss sent the text, but then a thought struck her. _Wait, eighth time? _

_Eighth time being caught, to be exact._

_I really hope that is a joke. Anyway, you need to start writing. Bed now mister._

_Is that an invitation to sneak into your room?_

_NO! Definitely not. Get into your own bed and go to sleep._

_I'm guessing you'll be joining me later._

_Nope_

_Then if I do that, you have to go to bed as well._

_Okay then._

Katniss switched her phone off and shut her curtains, before putting her pyjamas on. She reopened her curtains to see Finnick at his window, topless. She blushed and shut her curtains again, but not before Finnick saw her and grinned. She tried to shake the image of Finnick's abs out of her head but gave up, instead crawling into bed and letting the image swim around in her subconscious as she fall asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Well, now I am on my summer holiday, but that is not guaranteeing anymore chapters for a while. I spend 10 days in France, a week at home, though that will be spent with my drama groups summer school, a week with my grandparents and aunt, then another week with them but in Ireland! Fun times! Then I think I'm at home again, but that will be spent getting ready for school and cleaning the Bermuda Triangle/my room! So while I am sorry for leaving it this long, this sort of timetable might be the norm from now on. Sad, but true. Anyway, enjoy!**

The next morning Katniss was up early, and was on her way out the door by the time Prim had dragged herself out of bed.

"Morning sleepyhead. Is Rory coming to walk you to school?"

"Yeah. He's going to help me walk Lady to the Goat Mans house on the way."

"Good. If we can get her up the duff then we should get more money coming in."

"Yep. We'll have kids."

"Wait, what?" Prim giggled.

"Baby goats are called kids, silly." Katniss felt like an idiot. Prim had made her read all those looking after goat books after all. It was mentioned on every page.

"Oh yeah. Right. Anyway, I'll see you later." Katniss grabbed her bag and went outside, breathing in the cool morning air. She started walking down the familiar sidewalk, balancing herself on the edge of the road and sticking her arms out for balance. Just as she was passing the house at the end of the street, someone shouted at her causing her to lose balance and stumble.

"Shit!" Katniss felt a sharp pain in her ankle, as she fell to the ground. She heard footsteps and soon the owner of them was beside her.

"Katniss, are you okay?" It took her a moment to realise it was Finnick.

"I think I busted my ankle." She winced as she moved to take a look at her damaged ankle. Finnick noticed and made her lie down on the road.

"Right, let's take a look-see shall we?" He rolled up her trouser leg a bit and checked her ankle. He tittered disapprovingly. "That is a nasty sprain Miss Everdeen. I don't think you can walk two miles to school on that ankle."

She gritted her teeth. "I'll get the bus." He raised an eyebrow at her.

"And what about at school, hmm? Gonna hop about on one foot all day?"

"No. I'll go to the nurse and ask for some crutches. Problem solved. I won't miss school and my attendance will remain perfect."

"What if you need professional medical help?"

"Shit. Do you have a car?"

"Isn't your mom a nurse?" He raised his eyebrow again, waiting for the pieces of the puzzle to connect in her head.

"Oh." His smile rivalled the Cheshire Cat's. Katniss scowled, but winced again as she became more aware of the pain in her ankle. "Look, will you help me get home?"

"Certainly Miss Everdeen. Especially as I caused your untimely accident." Finnick said in a stiff British voice. Katniss laughed at him. It just seemed absurd to her in her pain filled state. She didn't ponder on that though, when Finnick helped her up.

"Jesus! What have you been eating Gof?"

"Gof?" Katniss was confused. Was she hallucinating? Was the pain causing her brain to scramble up words?"

"Gof, girl on fire!" Finnick smirked as he supported her weight on his shoulder, her right arm wrapped around his neck as she limped along. He knocked on her door and Prim answered.

"Hey little duck!" He beamed. "I made Katniss sprain her ankle!" Prim helped them through to the living room, the towel covering the stain still in place. Finnick plonked Katniss down on the sofa and Prim shoved a footstool underneath her rapidly swelling ankle.

"Right. I'll get some ice." Prim was in full nurse mode, totally in her element with a patient to care for.

Finnick sat down next to Katniss, carefully avoiding her injured leg and then stood up again abruptly. "I almost forgot something. I will be right back." He sprinted out of the house, leaving Katniss to settle down on the sofa and rootle through her bag, which Finnick had kindly picked up. She grabbed her phone and quickly texted Madge.

_Won't be in today. Sprained ankle. _

Madge texted back that she would get her homework for her. After texting a quick thanks, Prim came back into the room and put a bag of ice wrapped in a tea towel on her ankle. Almost immediately Katniss's ankle felt better. Rory came by and called for Prim.

"When Mom gets up I'll tell her what happened." Prim nodded and was out of the door quite quickly, for someone herding a stubborn goat through a house full of things for said goat to chew. About a minute after Prim left, Finnick came bounding back in. It was only when Katniss realised that he was wearing a shirt did it occur to her that he hadn't been wearing one earlier. He'd been in the middle of getting dressed...

Katniss blushed, but shook it aside when Finnick gave her a large bundle of paper. On closer inspection she realised it was a script. To be specific, it was the play she'd asked him to write. She was amazed. He'd written an entire play in the twelve hours since she'd said goodbye to him on her doorstep. After removing around eight hours from that for sleeping time, he'd written a play in four hours.

Holy. Shit. The boy could write.

He was looking at her earnestly, checking it was okay.

"Wow." Was all she managed to say. Luckily he got the message and gave her a wide grin.

"I expect you to have read it by the time I get back from school. I will be seeing you later Gof. Bye!" He got up and strode outside her house before breaking into a run. There were paths that lead to the school that ran by the ocean. He was desperate to breathe in the familiar salty air.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ \/\/\/

When he got to school he arrived in his homeroom chair a second before the late bell rang.

"Nailed it." He whispered to himself. He answered his name in roll call, and angled his desk so he could talk to Madge.

"I take it you know about Katniss."

"Indeed I do. In fact, I caused the accident that made her sprain her ankle."

"I see. So did you make a start on the play?"

"Better than that. I finished it. Katniss is proof reading it for me now." Madge had a similar reaction to Katniss. "If you wrote an entire play in one night, it must either be a heap of shit or a masterpiece."

Finnick smirked. "Definitely a masterpiece. Anyway, were there any more additional rules Coin doesn't want people knowing?" Madge looked around and leaned in closer. No one else knew about the extra rules.

"Yeah, you get to pick your courses at CA, so if like Peeta, what you're entering isn't your best talent, but you're doing it in a group, you will get the chance to say what you actually do." Finnick grinned. While everyone else was running about like headless chickens, trying to find a talent that was better than everyone else's, Finnicks group would keep their heads and win the competition. Provided of course, that Finnicks play was good.

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ \/\/\/

Katniss was curled up on the couch, in the exact same position Finnick had left her in, an hour earlier. She was mesmerised. All of the characters were lifelike- they were believable and their plights were realistic, in a fantasy way. The dialogue was evenly spaced out, each character got an equal amount of lines, and while some had long speeches, the others had plenty of shorter lines that made up for it. It was funny, without being a comedy and it was serious, without being a drama or tragedy. It was an awesome play. Katniss could not find a fault with it. The plot just dragged her in.

Basically, this warrior princess was engaged to get married to this weak ass prince and had been for some time. On one of this princess's riding excursions she came across a hunter. She and this hunter developed a friendship, and grew to love each other after starting out hating each other. However, her fiancée, who had been running his own kingdom during this time, comes back and insists that they get married as soon as possible as his father's dying wish, is to see his son married. The hunter asks the princess to runaway with him, but they are found out, before she had made up her mind. The hunter is exiled and the princess marries the prince, who promptly locks her in a tower, to prevent her from running. However, one of her guards takes pity on her and they begin a friendship very different to her and the hunters. Eventually he sets her free; on the condition she goes to his home village to take a letter to both his mother and his sweetheart. She promises to do so, as she has developed some form of romantic feelings for him. As her husband is actually taking good care of her kingdom, as well as his own, she realises she is free to live her own life. She sets off one her journey and had just arrived at the guards' village when Katnisss' phone rang.

Grumbling, she put down the script and picked up her phone. Seeing it was Finnick, she answered after the fifth ring.

"What?" She said grumpily. He chuckled.

"I take it I interrupted your reading." He said wryly. "Anyway, what do you think so far?"

"Honestly, it's amazing. How did you think of the plot and the characters in one night?" He was silent for a moment before responding.

"I took inspiration from real life and using that, made a possible future for it." Katniss thought about what he said for a minute before brushing it aside. "Katniss, you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm trying to figure out who'll play who."

"Don't worry. I've got it figured out in my head. I'll let you know when you've finished reading it. But I'll let you in on a secret. The ending is actually my second attempt. The first one was a lot better, but it seemed too happy to please the motherfuggers who run the schools." Katniss laughed and Finnicks serious tone disappeared. "So, I am guessing you don't want to wait to discuss the play?"

"Not at all."

"Good. I'm right outside." Finnick ended the call, just as the doorbell rang.

"It's open!" Katniss shouted and Finnick let himself in. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in school?" Finnick grinned and flopped onto the armchair.

"See. Spending two months in hospital because of a severe back injury, does leave you open to experience back pains every now and then. It just so happens, today I seem to be experiencing pain so bad I can't go to lessons." Finnick leaned back in his chair as Katniss raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, quite a coincidence." Katniss said sarcastically as Finnick reached over and plucked the script up form beside Katniss.

"Oh! You are in for a surprise in the next scene!" Katniss glared at him. She didn't want any spoilers. He cottoned on to what the look meant and shut his mouth before he revealed anything else. "Anyway, you really think it's good?" He said earnestly.

"It's an amazing thing. It seems like the sort of thing you would expect to see on Broadway." His face shined with pride and he couldn't help but tease her.

"Does that mean you want it to be a musical? Because I think I can knock out a few songs in the next hour or so."

"Don't you dare! If you have to have music in it, just make it part of some lame dance sequence." He pretended to be horrified.

"Lame dance sequence? If I put something in my baby it will be awesome and definitely worth it. Not lame." Katniss just laughed at him.

"Do you even know how gross that sounds? And why is it your baby? Does that make you a vulnerable single father?"

"Yes. Are you going to exploit me for my good looks and manly charm?" He raised an eyebrow and Katniss pretended to think about it. Finnick put on his best puppy dog eyes.

"Hmm. Let's see. Tall, hunky guy that I've known for one day, that calls his play he wrote at my request his baby. I am gonna have to say... no." He faked a crestfallen look and stood up.

"Right then. I'll be going then." He went past Katniss, but she grabbed his arm.

"Noooo! Stay!" She begged and he allowed her to pull him down next to her. He put his arm around her shoulder and she put her head on his shoulder. They stayed like that for a while, silent and not moving. Katniss seemed a bit out of character, she didn't seem like the person to cuddle. He guessed that she must have had some form of painkiller because even though he'd known her for a day, Katniss would definitely never do this if she was feeling herself. His suspicions were confirmed when she started drifting off on his shoulder. Before she did though, he asked what she'd taken. "Oh, uh. Morphling." She burrowed her head further into his neck and he wracked his brain trying to remember where he had heard of morphling before. Then it hit him. Morphling was a crazy strong painkiller. He'd developed a mild addiction to it when he first went to the hospital. Luckily, one of the nurses had confiscated his stash before his addiction got out of control, but he knew what the effects of it were.

"How much did you have?" He asked her quietly, trying to keep his temper in check.

"What? Um... I don't know. My mom gave me the packet before she left for work... She gave me a note... I didn't read it... I was reading your thing... She said put some in my water every six hours. I put some in the water when she left... I drank it... Then I felt fine for ages." Finnick swore in his head. Morphling worked slowly at first, numbing the pain to get you used to it, before striking and leaving you woozy and carefree. And drowsy. Too drowsy if you put too much in.

He grabbed the note her mother had left and scanned it. He swore again, this time out loud. Katniss's mother had put some morphling into the water before hand, leaving the jug untouched for Katniss to sort out later. Right now he had a drugged Katniss on his hands and while he figured she would be fine once she woke up, she would need medical help. If not, well, a very grumpy and addicted Girl on Fire would be after him and despite her ankle, he knew she'd get him.

Finnick fished his own phone out of his pocket and went to his speed dials. He went to number eight, Doctor Aurelius. He had been his primary carer when he had first been admitted to hospital and had grown to be a good friend of Finnicks. At first he had used their sessions to catch up on sleep, but after the morphling incident he had taken a real interest in Finnick. He had confessed he was actually a psychiatrist, but because he was so good at being a doctor, he was overqualified and tended to be passed around the departments like an unwanted kid in foster care. He talked Finnick out of several suicidal tendencies, before Finnick even knew he was doing them. He had given Finnick his personal number and told him to call if he needed to talk or needed help. Now was definitely time for help.

He pressed dial and waited anxiously as the phone rang. He picked up on the eighth ring.

"Jesus Finnick, what is it?" He snapped, obviously having been doing something important.

"Nice to hear from you to." Finnick said dryly. "Anyway, I have a friend who may have had a bit too much morphling. What do I do?"

"Morphling? I thought you'd stopped kid?"

"I said a friend. She twisted her ankle earlier and her mom gave her some morphling. Turns out, her mom had put some morphling into the water, but it seems Katniss didn't listen and put some more in. Now she's falling asleep and while I know it isn't a major overdose an overdose is an overdose. What should I do?"

"Don't give her anymore. I'll be round in about an hour when my shift ends. Just make sure she has plenty of water and keep waking her up. You never know how her systems going to react to any amount of morphling, no matter how small. See you in a bit." Finnick said bye to Dr Aurelius and hung up. Katniss was fast asleep now, her face looking childlike and innocent. He gently slapped her face until she stirred, her face morphing into one full of the effects of morphling.

"Why'd you wake me?" She said sleepily.

"Possible morphling overdose. Sorry, but it isn't nice to be addicted to and drowsiness is one of the effects. You must have a pretty good resistance to it. You took twice the recommended dose so it's pretty amazing you didn't pass out earlier or die." Finnick said in his best Capitol Academy voice.

"Too perky." She mumbled and Finnick laughed. All of the teachers talked like that at CA, it was supposed to keep up morale amongst the students, keep the happy and working at their finest. When they won, Katniss would probably be on their blacklist. He couldn't wait to see her face Miss Trinket. She tried to roll over and go back to sleep, but Finnick stopped her.

"No. If you keep trying to go to sleep, I will pour water over your head!"

"You just want to make my shirt see through." She groaned, but she sat up and stretched, fighting sleep. They talked for a bit, but Katniss was really struggling to keep her eyes open. Finnick sighed.

It would be a long hour.


End file.
